Fixed camera or not fixed camera?
That is the question.
In a 3-D bird's eye view RPG (similar to secret of mana, pokemon, early final fantasy games, chrono trigger, etc) would it be better to have a fixed camera or a free camera?
My game was originally going to have a fixed camera but after coming across Rune Factory Frontier reviews, I've noticed a lot of people are complaining about the fixed camera due to the problem when a player moves "down" on the screen, they literally can't see anything that's ahead of them. Example:
So the player ends up running into a lot of things and getting stuck on things. But the benefit of having a fixed camera is that you can design levels with the luxury of knowing exactly what the player is going to see. You don't have to worry about a player not seeing a sign up ahead because the camera is always locked to that one direction. Everything that you want to show can be seen.
You can cheat things such as not modeling the backs of buildings, which can save on memory, since players can't turn the camera around to see behind the building.
But still that looming problem remains... how to avoid frustrating the player with a fixed camera. Are there any games similar to this where you feel they came up with a decent solution?
Is there a game that utilizes a good mix of fixed and non-fixed cameras?
Furthermore, can a fixed and non-fixed setup work without having to rely on the mouse for camera controls?
I want my game to be playable with just the keyboard or even a game controller, so having mouselook isn't really an option.
My personal preference is for free camera in pretty much all circumstances except where the game theme calls for a fixed camera - for example, if you play a part of the game literally using security cameras or the like as vision. Both systems in general have their problems, but with free camera I feel more in control when viewpoint stuff-ups occur and therefore I see them as my own failure or a code bug, rather than getting frustrated at the game design for restricting me.
As far as workload goes, I think it depends on your specific game. Theres pros and cons for each but I think all up what one style does more efficiently, for the other style with a slight bit more effort you can probably find a hack to do something similar. In the end it all comes down to testing - you either have to test that theres no hidden bits of the screen for a character to get lost in, or you have to check theres no tight spots or obstacles that the camera might get stuck in/behind.
As far as workload goes, I think it depends on your specific game. Theres pros and cons for each but I think all up what one style does more efficiently, for the other style with a slight bit more effort you can probably find a hack to do something similar. In the end it all comes down to testing - you either have to test that theres no hidden bits of the screen for a character to get lost in, or you have to check theres no tight spots or obstacles that the camera might get stuck in/behind.
Like caffiene said I think it's going to come down to your level design and the testing that will go with it. If it's really dense with obstacles I can see a fixed cam being a pain. If, despite some depth, the world is mostly laid out on a single axis and points of interests are to the left and right the the screen then I don't see it being a problem. For a fully in-depth 3d world, though, I think a free cam is a must.
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